“We think that information should be available to everyone, irrespective of the hardware or software they have,” Burtch tells ANIMAL. The Dumb Store is truly a platform for everyone: It’s compatible with literally every single mobile phone.

To use an app, just call +1 646-666-3536 and key in the app number followed by the pound key or text +1 646-666-3536 with the app’s ID keyword. It’s also open source, so anyone can contribute or adapt an app or make an improvement to Burtch and Nasser’s code. The apps live at the Dumb Store github repository and can be implemented in Ruby. Liberate your dumbphone!

Wikipedia: Get the first three sentences of a Wikipedia article via SMS. Text ‘wiki’ and the title of the article you’re looking for.

Rick Roulette: Call and key in “rick” (7425#). Hold your phone up to your head for a 1 in 6 chance of getting rickrolled.

“I can see this being useful for people who don’t have smart phones, don’t want smart phones, can’t afford them, or don’t have access to wifi,” Burtch tells us. “It’s also a little bit of a ‘fuck you’ to Apple and Google. We reject the notion of planned obsolescence. You shouldn’t need an iPhone to get MTA info. Google recently shut down their SMS search, going down their path of destroying all of the useful things they’ve created. So we rebuilt it.”

We talked to Burtch again a few minutes ago. Since the ITP showcase, Burtch and Nasser have had 7 app submissions and calls and tweets from everywhere. “Basically, no one from the States has emailed us, but from everywhere else around the world,” she says. Then, a few minutes later, “Someone made an SF Muni app. I’m stoked!”